Descriptor architecture for a remote network management platform

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for mapping and managing interrelationships between data resources, application programs, and infrastructure components of a managed network are disclosed. A configuration management data database may contain configuration item (CI) records associated with CIs of the network. Each CI may correspond to configurable entities of the network, such as infrastructure components, application programs, and the data resources. A request relating to data resources of a data domain hierarchy of information object (IO) CIs may be received, where each IO CI is associated with a data resource of the network. A first look-up may identify one or more application programs that use the respective data resource associated with the given IO CI, and a second look-up may identify a resource database that stores the data resource associated with the given IO CI. A mapping list including the identities from the look-ups may be returned in response to the request.

BACKGROUND

Managed networks may include various types of computer networks that canbe remotely administered. This management may involve one or morecomputing devices disposed within a remote network management platformcollecting information about the configuration and operational states ofsoftware applications and hardware components executing on behalf on themanaged network, and then presenting representations of this informationby way of one or more user interfaces. The user interfaces may be, forinstance, web-based user interfaces. In some instances, remotemanagement of networks may be provided by a third party, such as aservice provider or vendor.

A managed network itself may also support the mission and operations ofan organization or enterprise. As such, network management andoperations may involve tracking of information resources managed by thenetwork in order to accommodate an organization's obligations forcompliance, as well as enable planning and stewardship of theinformation resources. In this sense, information resources, or dataresources, may be considered a form of assets—e.g. “data” assets—of anorganization or enterprise, but can also be liabilities if not managedproperly.

SUMMARY

An enterprise or organization may typically create, use, store, andmanage various types of data and information. Such data and informationmay support various aspects of operations and/or be produced as part ofvarious aspects of operations. Non-limiting examples may includeuser/customer data, account information, employee data, sales data,inventory data, and financial transaction data, to name a few. Data andinformation may be stored in one or more databases, and be accessed byone or more application programs, operations, or services, among otherprocedures and/or functional entities of an enterprise and/or itssupporting network management. Thus, such data and information may beconsidered “data resources” of an enterprise, and even viewed as “dataassets” or “information assets” of the enterprise or organization of orits supporting network management.

Periodically or from time to time, there can be circumstances,operations, and/or procedures within an enterprise that may requireidentification of all or a subset of particular data resources that meetsome criteria, or that fall within one or more particular categories.The requirement may further extend to identification of all or some ofthe application programs that use the particular data resources, all orsome of the resource databases that maintain the particular dataresources, and all or some of the infrastructure elements or componentsthat support the applications and resource databases. An example of suchcircumstance or operation may be an audit, which may need to be carriedout for regulatory compliance reasons, or to fulfill some otheroperational need. The identification of the appropriate data resources,applications, databases, and infrastructure may be considered asdefining or specifying the scope of the audit.

Conventionally, the sorts of interrelationships and mappings betweendata resources, applications, databases, and infrastructure that defineor specify an audit scope are identified or determined by relatively adhoc procedures. For example, manual analyses of data resources may becarried out to determine all particular data resources that meet somecriteria. Then, a query may be sent to various network managementpersonnel responsible for maintaining application programs, asking for alist of programs that use the particular data resources. A similar querymay be sent asking database personnel to identify databases thatmaintain the particular data resources. The accuracy of conventionalprocedures may therefore be tied to the accuracy of the query responses.The inventors have recognized that the conventional approaches thereforemay lack consistency and accuracy.

The inventors have further recognized that by treating data resources asconfigurable entities within a managed network, the sorts ofinterrelationships and mappings between data resources, applications,databases, and infrastructure that define or specify the scope of anaudit or other operations may be transformed into a systematic,efficient, and accurate procedure. In particular, the inventors haverecognized that data resources may be represented by a form of metadata,referred to as “information objects,” that codifies interrelationshipsand mapping in a manner that allows automated discovery of specifiedcategories of data resources, along with applications that use the dataresources, databases that maintain the data resources, andinfrastructure that supports the applications and databases. Informationobjects may also be used to capture and/or codify other forms ofrelationships that support other operations and functions besides auditand audit scope determination.

Accordingly, a first example embodiment may involve a system for mappingand managing interrelationships between data resources, applicationprograms that utilize the data resources, and infrastructure componentsof a managed network associated with a computational instance of aremote network management platform, the system comprising: aconfiguration management data database (CMDB) disposed within thecomputational instance and configured for storing configuration item(CI) records associated with CIs of the managed network, wherein each CIcorresponds to one of a class of entities that are configurable withinthe managed network, the class of entities including infrastructurecomponents, application programs, and the data resources; and one ormore server devices disposed within the computational instance, whereinthe one or more server devices are configured to: receive, from acomputing device, a request relating to one or more of the dataresources associated with a particular data domain, wherein theparticular data domain defines a particular hierarchy of informationobject (IO) CIs, each IO CI being a data structure associated with arespective data resource of the managed network, each respective dataresource being stored in one or more resource databases of the managednetwork, and each resource database being implemented in one or moreinfrastructure components; for each given IO CI of the particularhierarchy, perform a first look-up in a pairing-relation table toidentify each of one or more application programs that use therespective data resource associated with the given IO CI; for each givenIO CI of the particular hierarchy, perform a second look-up in thepairing-relation table to identify a resource database of the one ormore resource databases that store the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI; and transmit to the computing device amapping list including identities of the data resources associated withthe IO CIs of the particular hierarchy, the identified one or moreapplications programs, and each identified resource database.

In a second example embodiment may involve a method for mapping andmanaging interrelationships between data resources, application programsthat utilize the data resources, and infrastructure components of amanaged network associated with a computational instance of a remotenetwork management platform, the computational instance comprising aconfiguration management data database (CMDB) configured for storingconfiguration item (CI) records associated with CIs of the managednetwork, wherein each CI corresponds to one of a class of entities thatare configurable within the managed network, the class of entitiesincluding infrastructure components, application programs, and the dataresources, and wherein the method is carried out by one or more serversof the computational instance and comprises: receiving, from a computingdevice, a request relating to one or more data resources associated witha particular data domain, wherein the particular data domain defines aparticular hierarchy of information object (IO) CIs, each IO CIcomprising a data structure associated with a respective data resourceof the managed network, each respective data resource being stored inone or more resource databases of the managed network, and each resourcedatabase being implemented in one or more infrastructure components; foreach given IO CI of the particular hierarchy, performing a first look-upin a pairing-relation table to identify each of one or more applicationprograms that use the respective data resource associated with the givenIO CI; for each given IO CI of the particular hierarchy, performing asecond look-up in the pairing-relation table to identify a resourcedatabase of the one or more resource databases that store the respectivedata resource associated with the given IO CI; and transmitting to thecomputing device a mapping list including identities of the dataresources associated with the IO CIs of the particular hierarchy, theidentified one or more applications programs, and each identifiedresource database.

In a third example embodiment may involve a non-transitory computerreadable medium having instructions stored thereon for mapping andmanaging interrelationships between data resources, application programsthat utilize the data resources, and infrastructure components of amanaged network associated with a computational instance of a remotenetwork management platform, wherein the computational instancecomprises (i) a configuration management data database (CMDB) configuredfor storing configuration item (CI) records associated with CIs of themanaged network, wherein each CI corresponds to one of a class ofentities that are configurable within the managed network, the class ofentities including infrastructure components, application programs, andthe data resources, and (ii) one or more servers, and wherein theinstructions, when executed by one or more processors of the one or moreservers, cause the one or more servers to carry out operationsincluding: receiving, from a computing device, a request relating to oneor more data resources associated with a particular data domain, whereinthe particular data domain defines a particular hierarchy of informationobject (IO) CIs, each IO CI comprising a data structure associated witha respective data resource of the managed network, each respective dataresource being stored in one or more resource databases of the managednetwork, and each resource database being implemented in one or moreinfrastructure components; for each given IO CI of the particularhierarchy, performing a first look-up in a pairing-relation table toidentify each of one or more application programs that use therespective data resource associated with the given IO CI; for each givenIO CI of the particular hierarchy, performing a second look-up in thepairing-relation table to identify a resource database of the one ormore resource databases that store the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI; and transmitting to the computingdevice a mapping list including identities of the data resourcesassociated with the IO CIs of the particular hierarchy, the identifiedone or more applications programs, and each identified resourcedatabase.

In a fourth example embodiment, a system may include various means forcarrying out each of the operations of the second example embodiment.

These as well as other embodiments, aspects, advantages, andalternatives will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artby reading the following detailed description, with reference whereappropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, this summary andother descriptions and figures provided herein are intended toillustrate embodiments by way of example only and, as such, thatnumerous variations are possible. For instance, structural elements andprocess steps can be rearranged, combined, distributed, eliminated, orotherwise changed, while remaining within the scope of the embodimentsas claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a computing device, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic drawing of a server device cluster, inaccordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a communication environment involving a remote networkmanagement architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5A depicts another communication environment involving a remotenetwork management architecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic drawing of a data model for a descriptorarchitecture, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 7A illustrates a schematic drawing a data hierarchy, in accordancewith example embodiments.

FIG. 7B illustrates a schematic drawing a selected portion of a datahierarchy, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative mapping of information objects within a datamodel, in accordance with example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart, in accordance with example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, devices, and systems are described herein. It should beunderstood that the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein tomean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodimentor feature described herein as being an “example” or “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments or features unless stated as such. Thus, other embodimentscan be utilized and other changes can be made without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein.

Accordingly, the example embodiments described herein are not meant tobe limiting. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations. For example, theseparation of features into “client” and “server” components may occurin a number of ways.

Further, unless context suggests otherwise, the features illustrated ineach of the figures may be used in combination with one another. Thus,the figures should be generally viewed as component aspects of one ormore overall embodiments, with the understanding that not allillustrated features are necessary for each embodiment.

Additionally, any enumeration of elements, blocks, or steps in thisspecification or the claims is for purposes of clarity. Thus, suchenumeration should not be interpreted to require or imply that theseelements, blocks, or steps adhere to a particular arrangement or arecarried out in a particular order.

I. INTRODUCTION

A large enterprise is a complex entity with many interrelatedoperations. Some of these are found across the enterprise, such as humanresources (HR), supply chain, information technology (IT), and finance.However, each enterprise also has its own unique operations that provideessential capabilities and/or create competitive advantages.

To support widely-implemented operations, enterprises typically useoff-the-shelf software applications, such as customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) and human capital management (HCM) packages. However,they may also need custom software applications to meet their own uniquerequirements. A large enterprise often has dozens or hundreds of thesecustom software applications. Nonetheless, the advantages provided bythe embodiments herein are not limited to large enterprises and may beapplicable to an enterprise, or any other type of organization, of anysize.

Many such software applications are developed by individual departmentswithin the enterprise. These range from simple spreadsheets tocustom-built software tools and databases. But the proliferation ofsiloed custom software applications has numerous disadvantages. Itnegatively impacts an enterprise's ability to run and grow itsoperations, innovate, and meet regulatory requirements. The enterprisemay find it difficult to integrate, streamline and enhance itsoperations due to lack of a single system that unifies its subsystemsand data.

To efficiently create custom applications, enterprises would benefitfrom a remotely-hosted application platform that eliminates unnecessarydevelopment complexity. The goal of such a platform would be to reducetime-consuming, repetitive application development tasks so thatsoftware engineers and individuals in other roles can focus ondeveloping unique, high-value features.

In order to achieve this goal, the concept of Application Platform as aService (aPaaS) is introduced, to intelligently automate workflowsthroughout the enterprise. An aPaaS system is hosted remotely from theenterprise, but may access data, applications, and services within theenterprise by way of secure connections. Such an aPaaS system may have anumber of advantageous capabilities and characteristics. Theseadvantages and characteristics may be able to improve the enterprise'soperations and workflow for IT, HR, CRM, customer service, applicationdevelopment, and security.

The aPaaS system may support development and execution ofmodel-view-controller (MVC) applications. MVC applications divide theirfunctionality into three interconnected parts (model, view, andcontroller) in order to isolate representations of information from themanner in which the information is presented to the user, therebyallowing for efficient code reuse and parallel development. Theseapplications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete(CRUD) capabilities. This allows new applications to be built on acommon application infrastructure.

The aPaaS system may support standardized application components, suchas a standardized set of widgets for graphical user interface (GUI)development. In this way, applications built using the aPaaS system havea common look and feel. Other software components and modules may bestandardized as well. In some cases, this look and feel can be brandedor skinned with an enterprise's custom logos and/or color schemes.

The aPaaS system may support the ability to configure the behavior ofapplications using metadata. This allows application behaviors to berapidly adapted to meet specific needs. Such an approach reducesdevelopment time and increases flexibility. Further, the aPaaS systemmay support GUI tools that facilitate metadata creation and management,thus reducing errors in the metadata.

The aPaaS system may support clearly-defined interfaces betweenapplications, so that software developers can avoid unwantedinter-application dependencies. Thus, the aPaaS system may implement aservice layer in which persistent state information and other data isstored.

The aPaaS system may support a rich set of integration features so thatthe applications thereon can interact with legacy applications andthird-party applications. For instance, the aPaaS system may support acustom employee-onboarding system that integrates with legacy HR, IT,and accounting systems.

The aPaaS system may support enterprise-grade security. Furthermore,since the aPaaS system may be remotely hosted, it should also utilizesecurity procedures when it interacts with systems in the enterprise orthird-party networks and services hosted outside of the enterprise. Forexample, the aPaaS system may be configured to share data amongst theenterprise and other parties to detect and identify common securitythreats.

Other features, functionality, and advantages of an aPaaS system mayexist. This description is for purpose of example and is not intended tobe limiting.

As an example of the aPaaS development process, a software developer maybe tasked to create a new application using the aPaaS system. First, thedeveloper may define the data model, which specifies the types of datathat the application uses and the relationships therebetween. Then, viaa GUI of the aPaaS system, the developer enters (e.g., uploads) the datamodel. The aPaaS system automatically creates all of the correspondingdatabase tables, fields, and relationships, which can then be accessedvia an object-oriented services layer.

In addition, the aPaaS system can also build a fully-functional MVCapplication with client-side interfaces and server-side CRUD logic. Thisgenerated application may serve as the basis of further development forthe user. Advantageously, the developer does not have to spend a largeamount of time on basic application functionality. Further, since theapplication may be web-based, it can be accessed from anyInternet-enabled client device. Alternatively or additionally, a localcopy of the application may be able to be accessed, for instance, whenInternet service is not available.

The aPaaS system may also support a rich set of pre-definedfunctionality that can be added to applications. These features includesupport for searching, email, templating, workflow design, reporting,analytics, social media, scripting, mobile-friendly output, andcustomized GUIs.

The following embodiments describe architectural and functional aspectsof example aPaaS systems, as well as the features and advantagesthereof.

II. EXAMPLE COMPUTING DEVICES AND CLOUD-BASED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram exemplifying a computing device100, illustrating some of the components that could be included in acomputing device arranged to operate in accordance with the embodimentsherein. Computing device 100 could be a client device (e.g., a deviceactively operated by a user), a server device (e.g., a device thatprovides computational services to client devices), or some other typeof computational platform. Some server devices may operate as clientdevices from time to time in order to perform particular operations, andsome client devices may incorporate server features.

In this example, computing device 100 includes processor 102, memory104, network interface 106, and an input/output unit 108, all of whichmay be coupled by a system bus 110 or a similar mechanism. In someembodiments, computing device 100 may include other components and/orperipheral devices (e.g., detachable storage, printers, and so on).

Processor 102 may be one or more of any type of computer processingelement, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a co-processor (e.g.,a mathematics, graphics, or encryption co-processor), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), a network processor, and/or a form of integratedcircuit or controller that performs processor operations. In some cases,processor 102 may be one or more single-core processors. In other cases,processor 102 may be one or more multi-core processors with multipleindependent processing units. Processor 102 may also include registermemory for temporarily storing instructions being executed and relateddata, as well as cache memory for temporarily storing recently-usedinstructions and data.

Memory 104 may be any form of computer-usable memory, including but notlimited to random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), andnon-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk drives, solid statedrives, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and/or tapestorage). Thus, memory 104 represents both main memory units, as well aslong-term storage. Other types of memory may include biological memory.

Memory 104 may store program instructions and/or data on which programinstructions may operate. By way of example, memory 104 may store theseprogram instructions on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, suchthat the instructions are executable by processor 102 to carry out anyof the methods, processes, or operations disclosed in this specificationor the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 104 may include firmware 104A, kernel 104B,and/or applications 104C. Firmware 104A may be program code used to bootor otherwise initiate some or all of computing device 100. Kernel 104Bmay be an operating system, including modules for memory management,scheduling and management of processes, input/output, and communication.Kernel 104B may also include device drivers that allow the operatingsystem to communicate with the hardware modules (e.g., memory units,networking interfaces, ports, and busses), of computing device 100.Applications 104C may be one or more user-space software programs, suchas web browsers or email clients, as well as any software libraries usedby these programs. Memory 104 may also store data used by these andother programs and applications.

Network interface 106 may take the form of one or more wirelineinterfaces, such as Ethernet (e.g., Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, andso on). Network interface 106 may also support communication over one ormore non-Ethernet media, such as coaxial cables or power lines, or overwide-area media, such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) ordigital subscriber line (DSL) technologies. Network interface 106 mayadditionally take the form of one or more wireless interfaces, such asIEEE 802.11 (Wifi), BLUETOOTH®, global positioning system (GPS), or awide-area wireless interface. However, other forms of physical layerinterfaces and other types of standard or proprietary communicationprotocols may be used over network interface 106. Furthermore, networkinterface 106 may comprise multiple physical interfaces. For instance,some embodiments of computing device 100 may include Ethernet,BLUETOOTH®, and Wifi interfaces.

Input/output unit 108 may facilitate user and peripheral deviceinteraction with computing device 100. Input/output unit 108 may includeone or more types of input devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, and so on. Similarly, input/output unit 108 may include one ormore types of output devices, such as a screen, monitor, printer, and/orone or more light emitting diodes (LEDs). Additionally or alternatively,computing device 100 may communicate with other devices using auniversal serial bus (USB) or high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI) port interface, for example.

In some embodiments, one or more computing devices like computing device100 may be deployed to support an aPaaS architecture. The exact physicallocation, connectivity, and configuration of these computing devices maybe unknown and/or unimportant to client devices. Accordingly, thecomputing devices may be referred to as “cloud-based” devices that maybe housed at various remote data center locations.

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud-based server cluster 200 in accordance withexample embodiments. In FIG. 2, operations of a computing device (e.g.,computing device 100) may be distributed between server devices 202,data storage 204, and routers 206, all of which may be connected bylocal cluster network 208. The number of server devices 202, datastorages 204, and routers 206 in server cluster 200 may depend on thecomputing task(s) and/or applications assigned to server cluster 200.

For example, server devices 202 can be configured to perform variouscomputing tasks of computing device 100. Thus, computing tasks can bedistributed among one or more of server devices 202. To the extent thatthese computing tasks can be performed in parallel, such a distributionof tasks may reduce the total time to complete these tasks and return aresult. For purpose of simplicity, both server cluster 200 andindividual server devices 202 may be referred to as a “server device.”This nomenclature should be understood to imply that one or moredistinct server devices, data storage devices, and cluster routers maybe involved in server device operations.

Data storage 204 may be data storage arrays that include drive arraycontrollers configured to manage read and write access to groups of harddisk drives and/or solid state drives. The drive array controllers,alone or in conjunction with server devices 202, may also be configuredto manage backup or redundant copies of the data stored in data storage204 to protect against drive failures or other types of failures thatprevent one or more of server devices 202 from accessing units of datastorage 204. Other types of memory aside from drives may be used.

Routers 206 may include networking equipment configured to provideinternal and external communications for server cluster 200. Forexample, routers 206 may include one or more packet-switching and/orrouting devices (including switches and/or gateways) configured toprovide (i) network communications between server devices 202 and datastorage 204 via local cluster network 208, and/or (ii) networkcommunications between the server cluster 200 and other devices viacommunication link 210 to network 212.

Additionally, the configuration of routers 206 can be based at least inpart on the data communication requirements of server devices 202 anddata storage 204, the latency and throughput of the local clusternetwork 208, the latency, throughput, and cost of communication link210, and/or other factors that may contribute to the cost, speed,fault-tolerance, resiliency, efficiency and/or other design goals of thesystem architecture.

As a possible example, data storage 204 may include any form ofdatabase, such as a structured query language (SQL) database. Varioustypes of data structures may store the information in such a database,including but not limited to tables, arrays, lists, trees, and tuples.Furthermore, any databases in data storage 204 may be monolithic ordistributed across multiple physical devices.

Server devices 202 may be configured to transmit data to and receivedata from data storage 204. This transmission and retrieval may take theform of SQL queries or other types of database queries, and the outputof such queries, respectively. Additional text, images, video, and/oraudio may be included as well. Furthermore, server devices 202 mayorganize the received data into web page representations. Such arepresentation may take the form of a markup language, such as thehypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible markup language (XML),or some other standardized or proprietary format. Moreover, serverdevices 202 may have the capability of executing various types ofcomputerized scripting languages, such as but not limited to Perl,Python, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP),JavaScript, and so on. Computer program code written in these languagesmay facilitate the providing of web pages to client devices, as well asclient device interaction with the web pages.

III. EXAMPLE REMOTE NETWORK MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 3 depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordancewith example embodiments. This architecture includes three maincomponents, managed network 300, remote network management platform 320,and third-party networks 340, all connected by way of Internet 350.

Managed network 300 may be, for example, an enterprise network used byan entity for computing and communications tasks, as well as storage ofdata. Thus, managed network 300 may include client devices 302, serverdevices 304, routers 306, virtual machines 308, firewall 310, and/orproxy servers 312. Client devices 302 may be embodied by computingdevice 100, server devices 304 may be embodied by computing device 100or server cluster 200, and routers 306 may be any type of router,switch, or gateway.

Virtual machines 308 may be embodied by one or more of computing device100 or server cluster 200. In general, a virtual machine is an emulationof a computing system, and mimics the functionality (e.g., processor,memory, and communication resources) of a physical computer. Onephysical computing system, such as server cluster 200, may support up tothousands of individual virtual machines. In some embodiments, virtualmachines 308 may be managed by a centralized server device orapplication that facilitates allocation of physical computing resourcesto individual virtual machines, as well as performance and errorreporting. Enterprises often employ virtual machines in order toallocate computing resources in an efficient, as needed fashion.Providers of virtualized computing systems include VMWARE® andMICROSOFT®.

Firewall 310 may be one or more specialized routers or server devicesthat protect managed network 300 from unauthorized attempts to accessthe devices, applications, and services therein, while allowingauthorized communication that is initiated from managed network 300.Firewall 310 may also provide intrusion detection, web filtering, virusscanning, application-layer gateways, and other applications orservices. In some embodiments not shown in FIG. 3, managed network 300may include one or more virtual private network (VPN) gateways withwhich it communicates with remote network management platform 320 (seebelow).

Managed network 300 may also include one or more proxy servers 312. Anembodiment of proxy servers 312 may be a server device that facilitatescommunication and movement of data between managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320, and third-party networks 340. Inparticular, proxy servers 312 may be able to establish and maintainsecure communication sessions with one or more computational instancesof remote network management platform 320. By way of such a session,remote network management platform 320 may be able to discover andmanage aspects of the architecture and configuration of managed network300 and its components. Possibly with the assistance of proxy servers312, remote network management platform 320 may also be able to discoverand manage aspects of third-party networks 340 that are used by managednetwork 300.

Firewalls, such as firewall 310, typically deny all communicationsessions that are incoming by way of Internet 350, unless such a sessionwas ultimately initiated from behind the firewall (i.e., from a deviceon managed network 300) or the firewall has been explicitly configuredto support the session. By placing proxy servers 312 behind firewall 310(e.g., within managed network 300 and protected by firewall 310), proxyservers 312 may be able to initiate these communication sessions throughfirewall 310. Thus, firewall 310 might not have to be specificallyconfigured to support incoming sessions from remote network managementplatform 320, thereby avoiding potential security risks to managednetwork 300.

In some cases, managed network 300 may consist of a few devices and asmall number of networks. In other deployments, managed network 300 mayspan multiple physical locations and include hundreds of networks andhundreds of thousands of devices. Thus, the architecture depicted inFIG. 3 is capable of scaling up or down by orders of magnitude.

Furthermore, depending on the size, architecture, and connectivity ofmanaged network 300, a varying number of proxy servers 312 may bedeployed therein. For example, each one of proxy servers 312 may beresponsible for communicating with remote network management platform320 regarding a portion of managed network 300. Alternatively oradditionally, sets of two or more proxy servers may be assigned to sucha portion of managed network 300 for purposes of load balancing,redundancy, and/or high availability.

Remote network management platform 320 is a hosted environment thatprovides aPaaS services to users, particularly to the operators ofmanaged network 300. These services may take the form of web-basedportals, for instance. Thus, a user can securely access remote networkmanagement platform 320 from, for instance, client devices 302, orpotentially from a client device outside of managed network 300. By wayof the web-based portals, users may design, test, and deployapplications, generate reports, view analytics, and perform other tasks.

As shown in FIG. 3, remote network management platform 320 includes fourcomputational instances 322, 324, 326, and 328. Each of these instancesmay represent one or more server devices and/or one or more databasesthat provide a set of web portals, services, and applications (e.g., awholly-functioning aPaaS system) available to a particular customer. Insome cases, a single customer may use multiple computational instances.For example, managed network 300 may be an enterprise customer of remotenetwork management platform 320, and may use computational instances322, 324, and 326. The reason for providing multiple instances to onecustomer is that the customer may wish to independently develop, test,and deploy its applications and services. Thus, computational instance322 may be dedicated to application development related to managednetwork 300, computational instance 324 may be dedicated to testingthese applications, and computational instance 326 may be dedicated tothe live operation of tested applications and services. A computationalinstance may also be referred to as a hosted instance, a remoteinstance, a customer instance, or by some other designation. Anyapplication deployed onto a computational instance may be a scopedapplication, in that its access to databases within the computationalinstance can be restricted to certain elements therein (e.g., one ormore particular database tables or particular rows with one or moredatabase tables).

For purpose of clarity, the disclosure herein refers to the physicalhardware, software, and arrangement thereof as a “computationalinstance.” Note that users may colloquially refer to the graphical userinterfaces provided thereby as “instances.” But unless it is definedotherwise herein, a “computational instance” is a computing systemdisposed within remote network management platform 320.

The multi-instance architecture of remote network management platform320 is in contrast to conventional multi-tenant architectures, overwhich multi-instance architectures exhibit several advantages. Inmulti-tenant architectures, data from different customers (e.g.,enterprises) are comingled in a single database. While these customers'data are separate from one another, the separation is enforced by thesoftware that operates the single database. As a consequence, a securitybreach in this system may impact all customers' data, creatingadditional risk, especially for entities subject to governmental,healthcare, and/or financial regulation. Furthermore, any databaseoperations that impact one customer will likely impact all customerssharing that database. Thus, if there is an outage due to hardware orsoftware errors, this outage affects all such customers. Likewise, ifthe database is to be upgraded to meet the needs of one customer, itwill be unavailable to all customers during the upgrade process. Often,such maintenance windows will be long, due to the size of the shareddatabase.

In contrast, the multi-instance architecture provides each customer withits own database in a dedicated computing instance. This preventscomingling of customer data, and allows each instance to beindependently managed. For example, when one customer's instanceexperiences an outage due to errors or an upgrade, other computationalinstances are not impacted. Maintenance down time is limited because thedatabase only contains one customer's data. Further, the simpler designof the multi-instance architecture allows redundant copies of eachcustomer database and instance to be deployed in a geographicallydiverse fashion. This facilitates high availability, where the liveversion of the customer's instance can be moved when faults are detectedor maintenance is being performed.

In some embodiments, remote network management platform 320 may includeone or more central instances, controlled by the entity that operatesthis platform. Like a computational instance, a central instance mayinclude some number of physical or virtual servers and database devices.Such a central instance may serve as a repository for data that can beshared amongst at least some of the computational instances. Forinstance, definitions of common security threats that could occur on thecomputational instances, software packages that are commonly discoveredon the computational instances, and/or an application store forapplications that can be deployed to the computational instances mayreside in a central instance. Computational instances may communicatewith central instances by way of well-defined interfaces in order toobtain this data.

In order to support multiple computational instances in an efficientfashion, remote network management platform 320 may implement aplurality of these instances on a single hardware platform. For example,when the aPaaS system is implemented on a server cluster such as servercluster 200, it may operate a virtual machine that dedicates varyingamounts of computational, storage, and communication resources toinstances. But full virtualization of server cluster 200 might not benecessary, and other mechanisms may be used to separate instances. Insome examples, each instance may have a dedicated account and one ormore dedicated databases on server cluster 200. Alternatively,computational instance 322 may span multiple physical devices.

In some cases, a single server cluster of remote network managementplatform 320 may support multiple independent enterprises. Furthermore,as described below, remote network management platform 320 may includemultiple server clusters deployed in geographically diverse data centersin order to facilitate load balancing, redundancy, and/or highavailability.

Third-party networks 340 may be remote server devices (e.g., a pluralityof server clusters such as server cluster 200) that can be used foroutsourced computational, data storage, communication, and servicehosting operations. These servers may be virtualized (i.e., the serversmay be virtual machines). Examples of third-party networks 340 mayinclude AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® Azure. Like remote networkmanagement platform 320, multiple server clusters supporting third-partynetworks 340 may be deployed at geographically diverse locations forpurposes of load balancing, redundancy, and/or high availability.

Managed network 300 may use one or more of third-party networks 340 todeploy applications and services to its clients and customers. Forinstance, if managed network 300 provides online music streamingservices, third-party networks 340 may store the music files and provideweb interface and streaming capabilities. In this way, the enterprise ofmanaged network 300 does not have to build and maintain its own serversfor these operations.

Remote network management platform 320 may include modules thatintegrate with third-party networks 340 to expose virtual machines andmanaged services therein to managed network 300. The modules may allowusers to request virtual resources and provide flexible reporting forthird-party networks 340. In order to establish this functionality, auser from managed network 300 might first establish an account withthird-party networks 340, and request a set of associated resources.Then, the user may enter the account information into the appropriatemodules of remote network management platform 320. These modules maythen automatically discover the manageable resources in the account, andalso provide reports related to usage, performance, and billing.

Internet 350 may represent a portion of the global Internet. However,Internet 350 may alternatively represent a different type of network,such as a private wide-area or local-area packet-switched network.

FIG. 4 further illustrates the communication environment between managednetwork 300 and computational instance 322, and introduces additionalfeatures and alternative embodiments. In FIG. 4, computational instance322 is replicated across data centers 400A and 400B. These data centersmay be geographically distant from one another, perhaps in differentcities or different countries. Each data center includes supportequipment that facilitates communication with managed network 300, aswell as remote users.

In data center 400A, network traffic to and from external devices flowseither through VPN gateway 402A or firewall 404A. VPN gateway 402A maybe peered with VPN gateway 412 of managed network 300 by way of asecurity protocol such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) orTransport Layer Security (TLS). Firewall 404A may be configured to allowaccess from authorized users, such as user 414 and remote user 416, andto deny access to unauthorized users. By way of firewall 404A, theseusers may access computational instance 322, and possibly othercomputational instances. Load balancer 406A may be used to distributetraffic amongst one or more physical or virtual server devices that hostcomputational instance 322. Load balancer 406A may simplify user accessby hiding the internal configuration of data center 400A, (e.g.,computational instance 322) from client devices. For instance, ifcomputational instance 322 includes multiple physical or virtualcomputing devices that share access to multiple databases, load balancer406A may distribute network traffic and processing tasks across thesecomputing devices and databases so that no one computing device ordatabase is significantly busier than the others. In some embodiments,computational instance 322 may include VPN gateway 402A, firewall 404A,and load balancer 406A.

Data center 400B may include its own versions of the components in datacenter 400A. Thus, VPN gateway 402B, firewall 404B, and load balancer406B may perform the same or similar operations as VPN gateway 402A,firewall 404A, and load balancer 406A, respectively. Further, by way ofreal-time or near-real-time database replication and/or otheroperations, computational instance 322 may exist simultaneously in datacenters 400A and 400B.

Data centers 400A and 400B as shown in FIG. 4 may facilitate redundancyand high availability. In the configuration of FIG. 4, data center 400Ais active and data center 400B is passive. Thus, data center 400A isserving all traffic to and from managed network 300, while the versionof computational instance 322 in data center 400B is being updated innear-real-time. Other configurations, such as one in which both datacenters are active, may be supported.

Should data center 400A fail in some fashion or otherwise becomeunavailable to users, data center 400B can take over as the active datacenter. For example, domain name system (DNS) servers that associate adomain name of computational instance 322 with one or more InternetProtocol (IP) addresses of data center 400A may re-associate the domainname with one or more IP addresses of data center 400B. After thisre-association completes (which may take less than one second or severalseconds), users may access computational instance 322 by way of datacenter 400B.

FIG. 4 also illustrates a possible configuration of managed network 300.As noted above, proxy servers 312 and user 414 may access computationalinstance 322 through firewall 310. Proxy servers 312 may also accessconfiguration items 410. In FIG. 4, configuration items 410 may refer toany or all of client devices 302, server devices 304, routers 306, andvirtual machines 308, any applications or services executing thereon, aswell as relationships between devices, applications, and services. Thus,the term “configuration items” may be shorthand for any physical orvirtual device, or any application or service remotely discoverable ormanaged by computational instance 322, or relationships betweendiscovered devices, applications, and services. Configuration items maybe represented in a configuration management database (CMDB) ofcomputational instance 322.

As noted above, VPN gateway 412 may provide a dedicated VPN to VPNgateway 402A. Such a VPN may be helpful when there is a significantamount of traffic between managed network 300 and computational instance322, or security policies otherwise suggest or require use of a VPNbetween these sites. In some embodiments, any device in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 that directly communicates via theVPN is assigned a public IP address. Other devices in managed network300 and/or computational instance 322 may be assigned private IPaddresses (e.g., IP addresses selected from the 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255or 192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255 ranges, represented in shorthand assubnets 10.0.0.0/8 and 192.168.0.0/16, respectively).

IV. EXAMPLE DEVICE, APPLICATION, AND SERVICE DISCOVERY

In order for remote network management platform 320 to administer thedevices, applications, and services of managed network 300, remotenetwork management platform 320 may first determine what devices arepresent in managed network 300, the configurations and operationalstatuses of these devices, and the applications and services provided bythe devices, and well as the relationships between discovered devices,applications, and services. As noted above, each device, application,service, and relationship may be referred to as a configuration item.The process of defining configuration items within managed network 300is referred to as discovery, and may be facilitated at least in part byproxy servers 312.

For purpose of the embodiments herein, an “application” may refer to oneor more processes, threads, programs, client modules, server modules, orany other software that executes on a device or group of devices. A“service” may refer to a high-level capability provided by multipleapplications executing on one or more devices working in conjunctionwith one another. For example, a high-level web service may involvemultiple web application server threads executing on one device andaccessing information from a database application that executes onanother device.

FIG. 5A provides a logical depiction of how configuration items can bediscovered, as well as how information related to discoveredconfiguration items can be stored. For sake of simplicity, remotenetwork management platform 320, third-party networks 340, and Internet350 are not shown.

In FIG. 5A, CMDB 500 and task list 502 are stored within computationalinstance 322. Computational instance 322 may transmit discovery commandsto proxy servers 312. In response, proxy servers 312 may transmit probesto various devices, applications, and services in managed network 300.These devices, applications, and services may transmit responses toproxy servers 312, and proxy servers 312 may then provide informationregarding discovered configuration items to CMDB 500 for storagetherein. Configuration items stored in CMDB 500 represent theenvironment of managed network 300.

Task list 502 represents a list of activities that proxy servers 312 areto perform on behalf of computational instance 322. As discovery takesplace, task list 502 is populated. Proxy servers 312 repeatedly querytask list 502, obtain the next task therein, and perform this task untiltask list 502 is empty or another stopping condition has been reached.

To facilitate discovery, proxy servers 312 may be configured withinformation regarding one or more subnets in managed network 300 thatare reachable by way of proxy servers 312. For instance, proxy servers312 may be given the IP address range 192.168.0/24 as a subnet. Then,computational instance 322 may store this information in CMDB 500 andplace tasks in task list 502 for discovery of devices at each of theseaddresses.

FIG. 5A also depicts devices, applications, and services in managednetwork 300 as configuration items 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512. As notedabove, these configuration items represent a set of physical and/orvirtual devices (e.g., client devices, server devices, routers, orvirtual machines), applications executing thereon (e.g., web servers,email servers, databases, or storage arrays), relationshipstherebetween, as well as services that involve multiple individualconfiguration items.

Placing the tasks in task list 502 may trigger or otherwise cause proxyservers 312 to begin discovery. Alternatively or additionally, discoverymay be manually triggered or automatically triggered based on triggeringevents (e.g., discovery may automatically begin once per day at aparticular time).

In general, discovery may proceed in four logical phases: scanning,classification, identification, and exploration. Each phase of discoveryinvolves various types of probe messages being transmitted by proxyservers 312 to one or more devices in managed network 300. The responsesto these probes may be received and processed by proxy servers 312, andrepresentations thereof may be transmitted to CMDB 500. Thus, each phasecan result in more configuration items being discovered and stored inCMDB 500.

In the scanning phase, proxy servers 312 may probe each IP address inthe specified range of IP addresses for open Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) and/or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports to determinethe general type of device. The presence of such open ports at an IPaddress may indicate that a particular application is operating on thedevice that is assigned the IP address, which in turn may identify theoperating system used by the device. For example, if TCP port 135 isopen, then the device is likely executing a WINDOWS® operating system.Similarly, if TCP port 22 is open, then the device is likely executing aUNIX® operating system, such as LINUX®. If UDP port 161 is open, thenthe device may be able to be further identified through the SimpleNetwork Management Protocol (SNMP). Other possibilities exist. Once thepresence of a device at a particular IP address and its open ports havebeen discovered, these configuration items are saved in CMDB 500.

In the classification phase, proxy servers 312 may further probe eachdiscovered device to determine the version of its operating system. Theprobes used for a particular device are based on information gatheredabout the devices during the scanning phase. For example, if a device isfound with TCP port 22 open, a set of UNIX®-specific probes may be used.Likewise, if a device is found with TCP port 135 open, a set ofWINDOWS®-specific probes may be used. For either case, an appropriateset of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxy servers 312 tocarry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312 logging on, orotherwise accessing information from the particular device. Forinstance, if TCP port 22 is open, proxy servers 312 may be instructed toinitiate a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the particular device andobtain information about the operating system thereon from particularlocations in the file system. Based on this information, the operatingsystem may be determined. As an example, a UNIX® device with TCP port 22open may be classified as AIX®, HPUX, LINUX®, MACOS®, or SOLARIS®. Thisclassification information may be stored as one or more configurationitems in CMDB 500.

In the identification phase, proxy servers 312 may determine specificdetails about a classified device. The probes used during this phase maybe based on information gathered about the particular devices during theclassification phase. For example, if a device was classified as LINUX®,a set of LINUX®-specific probes may be used. Likewise if a device wasclassified as WINDOWS® 2012, as a set of WINDOWS®-2012-specific probesmay be used. As was the case for the classification phase, anappropriate set of tasks may be placed in task list 502 for proxyservers 312 to carry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers 312reading information from the particular device, such as basicinput/output system (BIOS) information, serial numbers, networkinterface information, media access control address(es) assigned tothese network interface(s), IP address(es) used by the particular deviceand so on. This identification information may be stored as one or moreconfiguration items in CMDB 500.

In the exploration phase, proxy servers 312 may determine furtherdetails about the operational state of a classified device. The probesused during this phase may be based on information gathered about theparticular devices during the classification phase and/or theidentification phase. Again, an appropriate set of tasks may be placedin task list 502 for proxy servers 312 to carry out. These tasks mayresult in proxy servers 312 reading additional information from theparticular device, such as processor information, memory information,lists of running processes (applications), and so on. Once more, thediscovered information may be stored as one or more configuration itemsin CMDB 500.

Running discovery on a network device, such as a router, may utilizeSNMP. Instead of or in addition to determining a list of runningprocesses or other application-related information, discovery maydetermine additional subnets known to the router and the operationalstate of the router's network interfaces (e.g., active, inactive, queuelength, number of packets dropped, etc.). The IP addresses of theadditional subnets may be candidates for further discovery procedures.Thus, discovery may progress iteratively or recursively.

Once discovery completes, a snapshot representation of each discovereddevice, application, and service is available in CMDB 500. For example,after discovery, operating system version, hardware configuration andnetwork configuration details for client devices, server devices, androuters in managed network 300, as well as applications executingthereon, may be stored. This collected information may be presented to auser in various ways to allow the user to view the hardware compositionand operational status of devices, as well as the characteristics ofservices that span multiple devices and applications.

Furthermore, CMDB 500 may include entries regarding dependencies andrelationships between configuration items. More specifically, anapplication that is executing on a particular server device, as well asthe services that rely on this application, may be represented as suchin CMDB 500. For instance, suppose that a database application isexecuting on a server device, and that this database application is usedby a new employee onboarding service as well as a payroll service. Thus,if the server device is taken out of operation for maintenance, it isclear that the employee onboarding service and payroll service will beimpacted. Likewise, the dependencies and relationships betweenconfiguration items may be able to represent the services impacted whena particular router fails.

In general, dependencies and relationships between configuration itemsmay be displayed on a web-based interface and represented in ahierarchical fashion. Thus, adding, changing, or removing suchdependencies and relationships may be accomplished by way of thisinterface.

Furthermore, users from managed network 300 may develop workflows thatallow certain coordinated activities to take place across multiplediscovered devices. For instance, an IT workflow might allow the user tochange the common administrator password to all discovered LINUX®devices in single operation.

In order for discovery to take place in the manner described above,proxy servers 312, CMDB 500, and/or one or more credential stores may beconfigured with credentials for one or more of the devices to bediscovered. Credentials may include any type of information needed inorder to access the devices. These may include userid/password pairs,certificates, and so on. In some embodiments, these credentials may bestored in encrypted fields of CMDB 500. Proxy servers 312 may containthe decryption key for the credentials so that proxy servers 312 can usethese credentials to log on to or otherwise access devices beingdiscovered.

The discovery process is depicted as a flow chart in FIG. 5B. At block520, the task list in the computational instance is populated, forinstance, with a range of IP addresses. At block 522, the scanning phasetakes place. Thus, the proxy servers probe the IP addresses for devicesusing these IP addresses, and attempt to determine the operating systemsthat are executing on these devices. At block 524, the classificationphase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operatingsystem version of the discovered devices. At block 526, theidentification phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determinethe hardware and/or software configuration of the discovered devices. Atblock 528, the exploration phase takes place. The proxy servers attemptto determine the operational state and applications executing on thediscovered devices. At block 530, further editing of the configurationitems representing the discovered devices and applications may takeplace. This editing may be automated and/or manual in nature.

The blocks represented in FIG. 5B are for purpose of example. Discoverymay be a highly configurable procedure that can have more or fewerphases, and the operations of each phase may vary. In some cases, one ormore phases may be customized, or may otherwise deviate from theexemplary descriptions above.

V. EXAMPLE DATA MODEL AND DESCRIPTOR ARCHITECTURE

An enterprise or organization may typically create, use, store, andmanage various types of data and information. Such data and informationmay support various aspects of operations and/or be produced as part ofvarious aspects of operations. Non-limiting examples may includeuser/customer data, account information, employee data, sales data,inventory data, and financial transaction data, to name a few. Data andinformation may be stored in one or more databases, and be accessed byone or more application programs, operations, or services, among otherprocedures and/or functional entities of an enterprise and/or itssupporting network management. Thus, such data and information may beconsidered “data resources” of an enterprise, and even viewed as “dataassets” or “information assets” of the enterprise or organization of orits supporting network management.

In accordance with example embodiments, data resources may be managed asone or more configuration items of the enterprise or it supportingnetwork management. For purposed of the discussion herein, configurationitems, or CIs, will be considered in the context of network management,underlying infrastructure, architecture, and methods, as describedabove. That is, configuration items corresponding to data resources,data assets, information resources, and information assets willprimarily be referred to as CIs of a managed network. It should beunderstood, however, that they can alternatively or additionally beconsidered CIs of an organization or enterprise that is supported by amanaged network.

As described in connection with FIG. 5A, for example, CIs may includephysical components and infrastructure, such as computing devices,application servers, database servers, and network routers and switches,among others. CIs may also include virtual components, such as virtualmachines and computational resources. Still further, CIs may includelogical components, such as application programs and services. In thiscontext, data resources may be considered a category of logicalconfiguration items of a managed network.

As also described above, a CMDB 500 may include information relating toCIs of a managed network. More specifically, the CMDB may include CIrecords, where each record corresponds to a respective CI of the managednetwork. For example, a particular network router may be a CI, and theCMDB may therefore include a particular CI record corresponding to theparticular network router. A similar arrangement applies to other CIs ofthe managed network. In strict terms, a given CI record of the CMDBcorresponds to a given CI of the managed network. However, forconvenience in the discussion herein, the CMDB will sometimes bereferred to as containing a CI, as a sort of shorthand for containing aspecific CI record corresponding to a specific CI.

In accordance with example embodiments, a data resource may berepresented as CI by a logical data structure referred to herein as an“Information Object” CI or “IO CI.” More particularly, an IO CI may beimplemented as table record arranged to store or maintain informationthat associates, links, or conceptually connects a data resource withone or more application programs that use data resource, as well asidentifies one or more infrastructure elements or components (e.g.,computing devices and/or servers) on which the one or more applicationprograms run. An IO CI may further include information that associates adata resource with a “resource database” that makes the data resourceavailable in the context of database operations. Additional informationof an IO CI may also identify one or more database instances thatimplement the resource database, as well as one or more database serverson which the one or more database instances are installed and madeoperational.

Also in accordance with example embodiments, an IO CI may be representedas a CI record in the CMDB, as a sub-record, sub-table, or other form ofextension, of a CI record in the CMDB. That is, a data resource may beconsidered a CI, just as a computing device or application program maybe a CI, for example. In the CMDB, a data resource CI may thus berepresented by a CI record that is, or is associated with, an IO CI.Among the benefits and advantages of an IO CI is that it provides for,and supports, mapping and managing of interrelationships betweenapplication programs that use the associated data resource, resourcedatabases that maintain the data resource, and infrastructure elementsand/or components that provide implementation support for theapplication programs and the resource databases.

Within an enterprise (and/or a managed network that supports it), theremay be multiple data resources. Some may be separate and unrelatedstructurally or functionally; others may be related operationally, or byassociation or reference; and still others may be related within ahierarchy. Other organizational arrangements are possible as well. Inaccordance with example embodiments, multiple, respective data resourcesmay be represented by multiple, respective IO CIs in one or more tablesor databases, for example.

Also in accordance with example embodiments, an organizational and/orhierarchical relationships between multiple IO CIs may be captured orrepresented according to an organization framework referred to herein asa “data domain.” More particularly, a data domain may form a sort ofmetadata that describes how multiple IO CIs are categorized, organized,and/or related. For example, an enterprise may maintain multiple formsand aspects of employee data, such as personal information, jobdescription, salary, etc. Each of these forms of data may be considereda respective data resource, each used by one or more of the same ordifferent application programs. But all of them might be part of acommon hierarchy deriving from a top-level of, for example, humanresources (HR) data. Other relationships among these data resources maybe possible as well. One or more data domains may capture or codify therelationships.

Periodically or from time to time, there can be circumstances,operations, and/or procedures within an enterprise that may requireidentification of all or a subset of particular data resources that meetsome criteria, or that fall within one or more particular categories.The requirement may further extend to identification of all or some ofthe application programs that use the particular data resources, all orsome of the resource databases that maintain the particular dataresources, and all or some of the infrastructure elements or componentsthat support the applications and resource databases. An example of suchcircumstance or operation may be an audit, which may need to be carriedout for regulatory compliance reasons, or to fulfill some otheroperational need. The identification of the appropriate data resources,applications, databases, and infrastructure may be considered asdefining or specifying the scope of the audit.

In accordance with example embodiments, systems and methods forimplementing and using information objects, including IO CIs and datadomains, may be used for mapping and managing interrelationships betweendata resources, application programs that utilize the data resources,and infrastructure components of a managed network associated with acomputational instance of a remote network management platform. In thefollowing discussion, the terms “application instance” and “databaseinstance” are introduced in the context configuration items and/ormanagement thereof. It should be understood that the term “instance”used in this context is distinct from the same term used in reference toa “computational instance” or a “customer instance.” That is, a“computational instance” (or “customer instance”) refers to particulararchitectural features or components of a remote network managementplatform, such as the one illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 3 and 4. Incontrast, the terms “application instance” or “database instance,” referto particular or specific “instantiations” of an application ordatabase.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic drawing of a data model for an exampledescriptor architecture, in accordance with example embodiments. Theexample architecture is made up of various architectural elements, eachcontaining one or more components, with various interconnections betweenthe components within or across elements. As described below, some ofthe elements and components may be logical, such data or datastructures. Others may be physical, such as infrastructure. In theexample architecture, five primary architectural elements are shown:conceptual data 602, logical data 604, physical data 606, infrastructure608, and an application portfolio manager (APM) 610. Each of these isdiscussed below in more detail.

Various components of the architectural elements are “connected”according to functional relationships between the components, the dataor information that may be transferred between them, and/or logical orconceptual associations between them. As such connections may correspondto physical connections, such as physical communicative connections,and/or logical connections, such as programmatic transfer betweenapplication programs.

The connection between any two components may be one of three types, asindicated in a legend in the figure: hierarchy relationship, CMDBrelationship, or table reference. More particularly, a hierarchyrelationship indicates a parent-child relationship, where an arrowpoints from parent to child. A CMDB relationship indicates arelationship defined according to a pairing-relation table that isassociated with, or is a sub-table of, the CMDB. Specifically, eachentry or record of the pairing-relation table identifies a pair of CIrecords of the CMDB that correspond to a pair of CIs that are related insome way that is described in the record. The description of therelationship may include a type and one or more attributes. In anexample embodiment, the pairing-relation table may be referred to a“CMDB relationship table.” A table reference may be a link or pointerfrom an entry in one table to another table or an entry in anothertable. Note that a hierarchy relationship may be implemented by a tablereference. These definitions of types apply as well to FIGS. 7A, 7B, and8, discussed further below.

As shown the conceptual data 602 includes the data domain, exemplifiedby a hierarchy including parent data domain 602-A and child data domain602-B. The hierarchy is indicated by the hierarchy relationshipconnection from parent to child. As described below, the child datadomain could derive from a record field or table column of the parentdata domain.

The logical data 604 includes, by way of example, information objects604-A, 604-B, and 604-C. Also by way of example, IO 604-A is related tothe data domain 602-B by a table reference, as indicated. For example,IO 604-A may include a pointer or link to a record filed or table columnin data domain 602-B. As such, IO 604-A may be associated with aparticular table or column within a hierarchy defined by the datadomains in the conceptual data 602, for example.

In accordance with example embodiments, the APM 610 may be a hardwareand/or software facility or module that organizes, maintains, andmanages application programs of the enterprise. By way of example, theAPM 610 includes application programs 610-A, 610-B, and 610-C. Thesecould be business applications, for example, though other types orclasses of application programs could be included. As show by way ofexample, the IO 604-A is related to application program 610-A by a CMDBrelationship connection. This may indicate that application program610-A uses the data resource associated with IO 604-A. As describedabove, this relationship may be specified by a record in apairing-relation table in or associated with the CMDB. The record mayalso specify attributes of the relationship, such as permission settingsfor various operations that the application program 601-A may perform onthe data resource associated with the IO 604-A.

An application program instance 612 is also shown in FIG. 6. Asindicated by the CMDB relationship connecting the instance 612 to theapplication program 610-A, the instance 612 is an actual instantiationof the application program 610-A.

By way of further example, infrastructure 608 includes hardware 608-A,application servers 608-B, database servers 608-C, and routers/switches608-D. A CMDB relationship connection between the instance 612 andapplication servers 608-B indicates that the instance 612 is actuallyimplemented on the application servers 608-B.

The physical data 606 includes a database catalog 606-A and a databaseinstance 606-B. In accordance with example embodiments, the databasecatalog may describe or specify particular data resources, such asemployee data, salary data, or payroll data. The database instance maycorrespond to one or more actual instances of a resource database. Asshown, the relationship or connection between database catalog 606-A anddatabase instance 606-B is a table reference. This reference indicatesthat database catalog 606-A may actually be found on (or maintained by)database instance 606-B. A CMDB relationship connection between thedatabase instance 606-B and database servers 608-C, again specified inthe pairing-relation table, indicates the specific database server onwhich the database instance is implemented or deployed.

As also shown, the IO 604-A is connected with the database catalog 606-Aby a CMDB relationship. That is, a record in the pairing-relation tablespecifies that the data resource associated with IO 604-A is part of adatabase specified by the database catalog 606-A, and thus may be storedor maintained on the database instance 606-B.

With the arrangement illustrated by way of example in FIG. 6, the IO604-A may serve to connect or relate the data resource associated withthe IO 604-A with (i) the application program 610-A that uses the dataresource, (ii) the application instance 612 that implements theapplication program 610-A, (iii) the application servers 608-B on whichthe instance 612 is actually running, (iv) the database catalog 606-Athat defines the data resource, the database instance 606-B thatimplements the catalog, and (v) the database servers 608-C on which thedatabase instance is implemented. Thus, in accordance with exampleembodiments, the IO provides a unifying data repository for collectinginformation about all the relevant configuration items related to thedata resource.

In accordance with example embodiments, and as described above inconnection with FIGS. 3 and 4, the CIs of a managed network may bediscovered, and the CMDB populated with CI records, using an automateddiscovery procedure. In further accordance with example embodiments, thediscovery procedure may also determine the CMDB relationships between atleast some of the pairs of CIs that are related. In particular,automated discovery may discover and record relationships betweenapplication programs, application instances, and hosting infrastructure.Automated discovery may also find this information for databasecatalogs, database instances, and database servers.

In the case of data resources, IOs, and IO CIs, discovery of therelevant information may sometime entail manual data entry. For example,application programs may initially be installed and/or configured byinformation technology (IT) personnel according to a customizedarchitectural design. Such a design could specify, for example,relations between application programs and data resources. Thisinformation could be used for defining appropriate IO CIs, as well asthe CMDB relationships, but may not necessarily be discoverable by anautomated procedure. As such, this information may be entered manuallywhen the application programs are installed or configured, for example.A similar manual procedure could be used for configuring databasecatalogs associated with the data resources.

In accordance with example embodiments, the type of CMDB relationshipbetween an IO CI and an application program could specify that theassociated data resource is “used by” the application program, and thatthe application program “uses” the associated data resource. Similarly,the type of CMDB relationship between an IO CI and database catalogcould specify that the associated data resource is “depends on” thedatabase catalog, and that the database catalog “uses” the associateddata resource. Other types of CMDB relationships may be possible aswell.

Also in accordance with example embodiments, the CMDB relationshipbetween an IO CI and an application program could specify attributes. Inparticular, the attributes could correspond to permission settings foroperations that the application program can perform on the associateddata resource. Non-limiting examples of the permission attributesinclude creating, reading, updating, and deleting (CRUD).

FIG. 7A shows an example data domain in further detail. In theillustration, a top-level, or “root” node of a data domain hierarchy isrepresented by a data domain table 700 for organizing a hierarchy of HRdata. As shown, the HR table 700 includes, by way of example, two tablecolumns: employee data and contractor data. Each of these columns isconnected by a hierarchy relationship to a respective child table,namely an employee data domain table 702-A and a contractor data domaintable 702-B. By way of example, the employee data table 702-A includestwo columns: US employees, and AIPAC employees. Each of these columns,in turn, have hierarchy relationships to respective child tables 704-A(US employees) and 704-B (AIPAC employees.

Also by way of example, the US employees table 704-A has three columns:payroll data, contact details, and family details. Payroll data has ahierarchy relationship to a child table 706-A. However, contact detailsand family details each have a table reference to a respectiveinformation object. Namely, IO 705-A (contact details), and IO 705-B(family details). This illustrates how the data domain organizes ahierarchy of tables, and places particular IOs within the hierarchy. TheIO CIs associated with the hierarchy may thus be considered a hierarchyof IO CIs, and correspond to specific data resources, as describedabove.

Continuing with the example of FIG. 7A, the payroll data table 706-A hastwo columns: salary data and tax data. Each of these has a hierarchyrelationship with a respective child table. Namely, salary data 708-Aand tax data 708-B. It will be appreciated the illustration of FIG. 7Ais just one example of a form of data domain hierarchy.

FIG. 7B illustrates how the data domain may be used to identify IO CIsassociated with payroll data. As shown by way of example, payroll datais a column in the data domain table 704-A for US employees. The payrolldata column has a table reference to an IO 705 corresponding to payrolldata, and also has a hierarchy relationship to a data domain table706-A. The table 706-A has two columns, salary data and tax data, eachof which has a table reference to a respective IO, namely IO 707-A(salary data) and IO 707-B (tax data). Thus, in this illustrativeexample, the hierarchy under the table 704-A is associated with threepayroll IOs, and thus three data resources.

In accordance with example embodiments, the data domain may be astarting point for identifying data resources associated with aparticular hierarchy. The top or root of the hierarchy may, for example,correspond or define the scope of an audit specified by a need to auditpayroll data and all related applications, databases, andinfrastructure.

FIG. 8 illustrates in further detail, and again by way of example, howthe data domain and information objects may be used to discover the CIswithin a specified scope of a data hierarchy. The system represented inFIG. 8 includes a CMDB 802, a CMDB relationship table 804, an IO table806, an APM 808, an application server 810, a database server 812, adatabase instance 814, a database catalog 816, and application instance818. The illustration also includes an example data domain 801corresponding to the payroll data column of the data domain table 704-Ashown in FIG. 7B. All of the entities IO table 806, APM 808, applicationserver 810, database server 812, database instance 814, database catalog816, and application instance 818 may be considered configuration itemsof a managed network. Each has a corresponding CI record in the CMDB802, except for the IO table 806, for which each individual IO has IO CIin the CMDB 802.

The CMDB relationship table 804 includes CMDB relationship recordsdefining pairs of CIs that are related. That is, each relationshiprecord associates a pair of CI records in the CMDB 802. Each CI record,in turn, associates a CI with a relationship record. Each CI is alsoassociated with a specific configuration item; a respective arrowpointing from each CI to a corresponding CI record indicates thisassociation.

An example of determination or discovery of scope is indicated in FIG. 8by circled numbers labeling various connections between CIs, CI records,and CMDB relationship records. Each connection is either a CMDBrelationship or a table reference, as indicated. Label 1 shows a tablereference from payroll data 801 to a corresponding IO in the IO table806. The IO for payroll data has table reference, label 2, to a payrolldata IO CI record in the CMDB 802. The payroll data IO CI record, inturn has two CMDB relationships to respective CMDB relationship recordsin the CMDB relationship table 804. Namely, label 3A shows the CMDBrelationship to a relationship record associating the payroll IO CIrecord to “Application 1,” and label 7A shows the CMDB relationship to arelationship record associating the payroll IO CI record to a CI recordassociated with the database catalog 816.

Following the Application 1 relationship, label 3B is a CMDBrelationship to the CI record for Application 1 in the CMDB 802. As avisual cue for convenience in tracing the connection, the label 3B isshown twice. The CI record for Application 1 is associated, by the arrowlabel 4A, with Application 1 in the APM 806; this is the actual CIcorresponding to Application 1. The CI record for Application 1 also hasa CMDB relationship, label 4B, to a CMDB relationship record associatingthe CI record for Application 1 with a CI record for an instance, “App 1Instance,” of Application 1. This relationship record has a CMDBrelationship, label 4C, to a CI record associated with the App 1Instance 818 (label 4C is shown twice for convenience).

The CI record for App 1 Instance has a CMDB is associated, by the arrowlabel 5A, with the actual App 1 Instance 818, and also has a CMDBrelationship, label 5B, to a CMDB relationship record associating the CIrecord for the App 1 Instance to the CI record for the applicationserver. This represented by the CMDB relationship, label 5C, to theApplication Server CI record, and the arrow label 6, from theApplication Server CI 810 to the CI record for the Application Server810.

Continuing now with the connections involving the database, the CMDBrelationship record associating the payroll IO CI with the databasecatalog has a CMDB relationship, label 7B, with the CI record associatedwith the database catalog 816. An arrow, label 8A, indicates thisassociation. The database catalog 816 has a table reference, label 8B,to the database instance 814, and the database instance 814 isassociated with a CI record by an arrow, label 9A. The CI record for thedatabase instance has a CMDB relationship, label 9B, with a CMDBrelationship record associating the database instance with the databaseserver. This CMDB relationship, in turn, has a CMDB relationshipconnection, label 9C, with the CI associated with the database server812. This association is indicated by the arrow, label 10, from thedatabase server 812 to the associate CI record.

The illustration of FIG. 8 provides a detailed example of how thedescriptor architecture depicted schematically in FIG. 6 may supportmapping and managing interconnections between CIs that are related bytheir use and/or management of data resources of a managed network. Itshould be understood that the illustrated example is not intended to belimiting with respect to operations involve determining or discoveringscope. Further, there may be additional ways to apply the descriptorarchitecture for achieving other forms of determination and/or discoveryof CIs that are related by way of data resources or other forms of dataassets or information assets. Further examples are briefly outlinedbelow.

In accordance with example embodiments, an information-object frameworksimilar to the one described above may be used to provide and/or supportsystematic consistency of integration between applications. Moreparticularly, an information-object framework may be fashioned todetermine how applications of an enterprise are integrated with oneanother—that is, which applications are connect to each other, and howthe interconnects affect the applications. This information may be usedto assess the impact of changes to one or more applications, and/or toone or more data resources used by the applications.

In an example embodiment, CMDB relationship attributes may be used tospecify type of integrations. Non-limiting examples may includetransport types, such as HTTP, JSON, and ETL. Attributes may alsospecify integration modes, such as automated or manual, or may specifycharacteristics such as frequency, upstream, downstream, and so on.Relationships between IOs and applications may again be captured in CMDBrelationships, which may also store API dependencies betweenapplications. Dependencies can be registered for change management. Thisinformation could then be made available to IT and other technologypersonnel charged with changing or updating applications and/or dataresources.

Also in accordance with example embodiments, an information-objectframework similar to the one described above may be used to provideand/or support systematic determination of information lineage. It canhappen that multiple applications store the same type of data, such asemployee contact details for example. This can sometimes lead to dataduplication with different, possibly inconsistent versions of whatshould otherwise be identical information. An information-objectframework may be used to identify a “data origin” of a particular dataset or data item. In an example embodiment, IOs may be used to trackdata flows between applications, including how the data are modified.This, in turn, allows the original data to be determined, andconsistency restored across all applications and databases that use andmaintain the associated data resources.

As yet another example, an information-object framework similar to theone described above may be used to provide and/or support systematicresponse to vulnerabilities. Specifically, CIs that are impacted by aknown or discovered vulnerability may be identified using IO CIs to tietogether classes and/or categories of applications, data resources, anddatabases that may be subject to a vulnerability. In an exampleembodiment, the National Institute of Standards (NIST) may provide avulnerability database from which impacted CI types may be determined.Then, a framework similar to the one described above in connection withaudit scope may be used to identify the scope one or morevulnerabilities. Appropriate protective actions or strategies may thenbe developed and/or deployed.

It will be appreciated that an information-object framework developedaccording to a descriptor architecture may be used to solve otherproblems encountered in network management.

VI. EXAMPLE METHODS

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method900. The method illustrated by FIG. 9 may be carried out by a computingdevice, such as computing device 100, and/or a cluster of computingdevices, such as server cluster 200. However, the process can be carriedout by other types of devices or device subsystems. For example, theprocess could be carried out by a portable computer, such as a laptop ora tablet device. In an example embodiment, the method illustrated inFIG. 9 may be carried out by a computing device disposed within acomputational instance, such as instance 322, of a remote networkmanagement platform, such as platform 320, which remotely manages amanaged network, such as network 300.

The embodiments of FIG. 9 may be simplified by the removal of any one ormore of the features shown therein. Further, these embodiments may becombined with features, aspects, and/or implementations of any of theprevious figures or otherwise described herein.

The method 900 may be carried out in a system for mapping and managinginterrelationships between data resources, application programs thatutilize the data resources, and infrastructure components of a managednetwork associated with a computational instance of a remote networkmanagement platform. The system may include a configuration managementdata database (CMDB) disposed within the computational instance andconfigured for storing configuration item (CI) records associated withCIs of the managed network, wherein each CI corresponds to one of aclass of entities that are configurable within the managed network, theclass of entities including infrastructure components, applicationprograms, and the data resources. The system may also include one ormore server devices disposed within the computational instance andconfigured to carry out various operations of the example method.

Non-limiting examples of infrastructure components may include, devices,server devices, database servers, computing systems, network devices,network routers, and network switches. Non-limiting examples of dataresources may include data stored in at least one resource database ofthe managed network or at least one table thereof.

The example method 900 may also be embodied as instructions executableby one or more processors of the one or more server devices of thesystem. For example, the instructions may take the form of softwareand/or hardware and/or firmware instructions. In an example embodiment,the instructions may be stored on a non-transitory computer readablemedium. When executed by one or more processors of the one or moreservers, the instructions may cause the one or more servers to carry outvarious operations of the example method.

Block 902 of example method 900 may involve receiving a request from acomputing device relating to one or more data resources associated witha particular data domain. The particular data domain may define aparticular hierarchy of information object (IO) CIs, where each IO CImay be or include a data structure associated with a respective dataresource of the managed network. Each respective data resource may bestored in one or more resource databases of the managed network, andeach resource database may be implemented in one or more infrastructurecomponents. Referring again to FIG. 7B as an illustrative example, thedata domain could be associated with payroll data 706-A, for example.

Block 904 may involve performing a first look-up for each given IO CI ofthe particular hierarchy in a pairing-relation table to identify each ofone or more application programs that use the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI.

Block 906 may involve performing a second look-up for each given IO CIof the particular hierarchy in the pairing-relation table to identify aresource database of the one or more resource databases that store therespective data resource associated with the given IO CI.

Finally, block 908 may involve transmitting to the computing device amapping list including identities of the data resources associated withthe IO CIs of the particular hierarchy, the identified one or moreapplications programs, and each identified resource database.

In accordance with example embodiments, each CI record of the CMDB mayinclude configuration information associated with one entity of theclass. In particular, each CI record associated with a given IO CIincludes data-resource configuration information for a data resourceassociated with the given IO CI. Also in accordance with exampleembodiments, each IO CI may be implemented in an IO table of informationobjects, and the IO table may be a sub-table of the CMDB. In addition,the pairing-relation table may also be a sub-table of the CMDB.

In accordance with example embodiments, the pairing-relation table mayinclude one or more CMDB relationship records, where each CMDBrelationship record includes pairing information descriptive of arelationship between two different CIs of the managed network. Inparticular, the pairing information may include an association betweenthe CI records of the two different CIs, including attributes of therelationship between two different CIs of the managed network.

In further accordance with example embodiments, one of the two differentCIs may be a particular IO CI, the other one of the two different CIsmay correspond to a particular application program. In this case, theattributes include permission settings for data operations performed bythe particular application program on a particular data resourceassociated with the particular IO CI, where the data operations are oneor more of creating, reading, updating, or deleting. Further, thepairing information may specify that (i) a particular data resourceassociated with the particular IO CI is used by the particularapplication program, and (ii) the particular application program usesthe particular data resource.

In particular, performing the first look-up in the pairing-relationtable may then entail determining, from the pairing-relation table, theattributes of the respective relationship between the given IO CI andeach of the identified one or more application programs that use therespective data resource associated with the given IO CI. Specifically,determining the permission settings for data operations performed by anygiven one of the identified one or more application programs on therespective data resource associated with the given IO CI. The firstlook-up may further entail determining, from the pairing-relation table,the respective relationship type between the given IO CI and each givenapplication of the identified one or more application programs that usethe respective data resource associated with the given IO CI.Specifically, determining that each respective relationship typespecifies that (i) the respective data resource associated with thegiven IO CI is used by the given application program, and (ii) the givenapplication program uses the respective data resource associated withthe given IO CI.

In further accordance with example embodiments, one of the two differentCIs may be a particular IO CI, and the other one of the two differentCIs may correspond to a particular resource database. In this case, thepairing information may specify that (i) a particular data resourceassociated with the particular IO CI depends on the particular resourcedatabase, and (ii) the particular resource database uses the particulardata resource.

In particular, performing the second look-up in the pairing-relationtable may then entail determining, from the pairing-relation table, arespective relationship type between the given IO CI and each givenresource database of the identified resource databases. Specifically,determining that each respective relationship type specifies that (i)the respective data resource associated with the given IO CI depends onthe given resource database, and (ii) the given resource database usesthe respective data resource associated with the given IO CI.

In accordance with example embodiments, the mapping list may furtherinclude infrastructure information. Non-limiting examples of theinfrastructure information may include one or more of: (i) identities ofone or more computing devices on which the one or more identifiedapplication programs run, or (ii) identities of one or more databaseservers on which the at least one of each identified resource databaseis implemented. In this case, transmitting the mapping list may entailfurther including such infrastructure information in the transmittedmapping list.

In an example embodiment, the particular data domain may correspond toparticular data resources within a scope of an audit of the managednetwork. As such, receiving the request may entail receiving a requestfor CIs within the scope of the audit, and transmitting the mapping listmay entail transmitting a compilation of the CIs within the scope of theaudit.

VII. CONCLUSION

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its scope, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuseswithin the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those describedherein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoingdescriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The above detailed description describes various features and operationsof the disclosed systems, devices, and methods with reference to theaccompanying figures. The example embodiments described herein and inthe figures are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments can beutilized, and other changes can be made, without departing from thescope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readilyunderstood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generallydescribed herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged,substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

With respect to any or all of the message flow diagrams, scenarios, andflow charts in the figures and as discussed herein, each step, block,and/or communication can represent a processing of information and/or atransmission of information in accordance with example embodiments.Alternative embodiments are included within the scope of these exampleembodiments. In these alternative embodiments, for example, operationsdescribed as steps, blocks, transmissions, communications, requests,responses, and/or messages can be executed out of order from that shownor discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order,depending on the functionality involved. Further, more or fewer blocksand/or operations can be used with any of the message flow diagrams,scenarios, and flow charts discussed herein, and these message flowdiagrams, scenarios, and flow charts can be combined with one another,in part or in whole.

A step or block that represents a processing of information cancorrespond to circuitry that can be configured to perform the specificlogical functions of a herein-described method or technique.Alternatively or additionally, a step or block that represents aprocessing of information can correspond to a module, a segment, or aportion of program code (including related data). The program code caninclude one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical operations or actions in the method ortechnique. The program code and/or related data can be stored on anytype of computer readable medium such as a storage device including RAM,a disk drive, a solid state drive, or another storage medium.

The computer readable medium can also include non-transitory computerreadable media such as computer readable media that store data for shortperiods of time like register memory and processor cache. The computerreadable media can further include non-transitory computer readablemedia that store program code and/or data for longer periods of time.Thus, the computer readable media may include secondary or persistentlong term storage, like ROM, optical or magnetic disks, solid statedrives, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. Thecomputer readable media can also be any other volatile or non-volatilestorage systems. A computer readable medium can be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device.

Moreover, a step or block that represents one or more informationtransmissions can correspond to information transmissions betweensoftware and/or hardware modules in the same physical device. However,other information transmissions can be between software modules and/orhardware modules in different physical devices.

The particular arrangements shown in the figures should not be viewed aslimiting. It should be understood that other embodiments can includemore or less of each element shown in a given figure. Further, some ofthe illustrated elements can be combined or omitted. Yet further, anexample embodiment can include elements that are not illustrated in thefigures.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purpose ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopebeing indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for mapping and managinginterrelationships between data resources, application programs thatutilize the data resources, and infrastructure components of a managednetwork associated with a computational instance of a remote networkmanagement platform, the system comprising: a configuration managementdata database (CMDB) disposed within the computational instance andconfigured for storing configuration item (CI) records associated withCIs of the managed network, wherein each CI corresponds to one of aclass of entities that are configurable within the managed network, theclass of entities including infrastructure components, applicationprograms, and the data resources; and one or more server devicesdisposed within the computational instance, wherein the one or moreserver devices are configured to: receive, from a computing device, arequest relating to one or more of the data resources associated with aparticular data domain, wherein the particular data domain defines aparticular hierarchy of information object (IO) CIs, each IO CI being adata structure associated with a respective data resource of the managednetwork, each respective data resource being stored in one or moreresource databases of the managed network, and each resource databasebeing implemented in one or more infrastructure components; for eachgiven IO CI of the particular hierarchy, perform a first look-up in apairing-relation table to identify each of one or more applicationprograms that use the respective data resource associated with the givenIO CI; for each given IO CI of the particular hierarchy, perform asecond look-up in the pairing-relation table to identify a resourcedatabase of the one or more resource databases that store the respectivedata resource associated with the given IO CI; and transmit to thecomputing device a mapping list including identities of the dataresources associated with the IO CIs of the particular hierarchy, theidentified one or more applications programs, and each identifiedresource database.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the infrastructurecomponents include computing devices, server devices, database servers,computing systems, network devices, network routers, and networkswitches, and wherein the data resources include data stored in at leastone resource database of the managed network or at least one tablethereof.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein each CI record of the CMDBincludes configuration information associated with one entity of theclass.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein each CI record associated witha given IO CI includes data-resource configuration information for adata resource associated with the given IO CI.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein the pairing-relation table comprises one or more CMDBrelationship records, each CMDB relationship record including pairinginformation descriptive of a relationship between two different CIs ofthe managed network.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the pairinginformation comprises an association between the CI records of the twodifferent CIs.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein one of the twodifferent CIs is a particular IO CI, and wherein the pairing informationincludes attributes of the relationship between two different CIs of themanaged network.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the other one of thetwo different CIs corresponds to a particular application program,wherein the attributes include permission settings for data operationsperformed by the particular application program on a particular dataresource associated with the particular IO CI, the data operations beingat least one of creating, reading, updating, or deleting, and whereinthe pairing information specifies that (i) a particular data resourceassociated with the particular IO CI is used by the particularapplication program, and (ii) the particular application program usesthe particular data resource.
 9. The system of claim 5, wherein one ofthe two different CIs is a particular IO CI, and the other one of thetwo different CIs corresponds to a particular resource database, andwherein the pairing information specifies that (i) a particular dataresource associated with the particular IO CI depends on the particularresource database, and (ii) the particular resource database uses theparticular data resource.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the mappinglist further includes infrastructure information, the infrastructureinformation being at least one of: (i) identities of one or morecomputing devices on which the one or more identified applicationprograms run, or (ii) identities of one or more database servers onwhich the at least one of each identified resource database isimplemented.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein each IO CI isimplemented in an IO table of information objects, and wherein the IOtable is a sub-table of the CMDB.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein thepairing-relation table is a sub-table of the CMDB.
 13. A method formapping and managing interrelationships between data resources,application programs that utilize the data resources, and infrastructurecomponents of a managed network associated with a computational instanceof a remote network management platform, the computational instancecomprising a configuration management data database (CMDB) configuredfor storing configuration item (CI) records associated with CIs of themanaged network, wherein each CI corresponds to one of a class ofentities that are configurable within the managed network, the class ofentities including infrastructure components, application programs, andthe data resources, and wherein the method is carried out by one or moreservers of the computational instance and comprises: receiving, from acomputing device, a request relating to one or more data resourcesassociated with a particular data domain, wherein the particular datadomain defines a particular hierarchy of information object (IO) CIs,each IO CI comprising a data structure associated with a respective dataresource of the managed network, each respective data resource beingstored in one or more resource databases of the managed network, andeach resource database being implemented in one or more infrastructurecomponents; for each given IO CI of the particular hierarchy, performinga first look-up in a pairing-relation table to identify each of one ormore application programs that use the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI; for each given IO CI of the particularhierarchy, performing a second look-up in the pairing-relation table toidentify a resource database of the one or more resource databases thatstore the respective data resource associated with the given IO CI; andtransmitting to the computing device a mapping list including identitiesof the data resources associated with the IO CIs of the particularhierarchy, the identified one or more applications programs, and eachidentified resource database.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein theparticular data domain corresponds to particular data resources within ascope of an audit of the managed network, wherein receiving the requestcomprises receiving a request for CIs within the scope of the audit, andwherein transmitting the mapping list comprises transmitting acompilation of the CIs within the scope of the audit.
 15. The method ofclaim 13, wherein the pairing-relation table comprises one or more CMDBrelationship records, each CMDB relationship record including pairinginformation descriptive of a relationship between two different CIs ofthe managed network, and wherein performing the first look-up in thepairing-relation table comprises determining, from the pairing-relationtable, attributes of a respective relationship between the given IO CIand each of the identified one or more application programs that use therespective data resource associated with the given IO CI.
 16. The methodof claim 15, wherein the attributes include permission settings for dataoperations performed by any given one of the identified one or moreapplication programs on the respective data resource associated with thegiven IO CI, the data operations being at least one of creating,reading, updating, or deleting.
 17. The method of claim 15, whereinperforming the first look-up in the pairing-relation table furthercomprises determining, from the pairing-relation table, a respectiverelationship type between the given IO CI and each given application ofthe identified one or more application programs that use the respectivedata resource associated with the given IO CI, each respectiverelationship type specifying that (i) the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI is used by the given applicationprogram, and (ii) the given application program uses the respective dataresource associated with the given IO CI.
 18. The method of claim 15,wherein performing the second look-up in the pairing-relation tablecomprises determining, from the pairing-relation table, a respectiverelationship type between the given IO CI and each given resourcedatabase of the identified resource databases, each respectiverelationship type specifying that (i) the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI depends on the given resource database,and (ii) the given resource database uses the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI.
 19. The method of claim 13, whereintransmitting the mapping list comprising further includinginfrastructure information in the transmitted mapping list, theinfrastructure information being at least one of: (i) identities of oneor more computing devices on which the one or more identifiedapplication programs run, or (ii) identities of one or more databaseservers on which the at least one of each identified resource databaseis implemented.
 20. A non-transitory computer readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon for mapping and managing interrelationshipsbetween data resources, application programs that utilize the dataresources, and infrastructure components of a managed network associatedwith a computational instance of a remote network management platform,wherein the computational instance comprises (i) a configurationmanagement data database (CMDB) configured for storing configurationitem (CI) records associated with CIs of the managed network, whereineach CI corresponds to one of a class of entities that are configurablewithin the managed network, the class of entities includinginfrastructure components, application programs, and the data resources,and (ii) one or more servers, and wherein the instructions, whenexecuted by one or more processors of the one or more servers, cause theone or more servers to carry out operations including: receiving, from acomputing device, a request relating to one or more data resourcesassociated with a particular data domain, wherein the particular datadomain defines a particular hierarchy of information object (IO) CIs,each IO CI comprising a data structure associated with a respective dataresource of the managed network, each respective data resource beingstored in one or more resource databases of the managed network, andeach resource database being implemented in one or more infrastructurecomponents; for each given IO CI of the particular hierarchy, performinga first look-up in a pairing-relation table to identify each of one ormore application programs that use the respective data resourceassociated with the given IO CI; for each given IO CI of the particularhierarchy, performing a second look-up in the pairing-relation table toidentify a resource database of the one or more resource databases thatstore the respective data resource associated with the given IO CI; andtransmitting to the computing device a mapping list including identitiesof the data resources associated with the IO CIs of the particularhierarchy, the identified one or more applications programs, and eachidentified resource database.